Sharp-eyed viewers of ITV’s For the Love of Dogs last September may have recognised Simpsons Removals’ Project Manager Kirk Dugard with his rescue dog Forest, when they appeared on the programme.

Kirk and his partner Lydia were smitten by Forest, a Lurcher Cross, when they visited Battersea Dogs Home in May.

“On the Sunday after the BAR conference in London I was travelling back on the train when I had a call from Lydia saying she’d had a call from Battersea about a puppy and wanted to drive to Windsor as soon as I got home to see him,” said Kirk. “We’d lost our old rescue dog Rusty only eight months earlier to cancer and had registered with Battersea shortly afterwards. I really wanted a little longer to get used to the idea of another dog but, nonetheless, we duly went along and the rest, as they say, is history.”

Forest was very underweight, had a skin infection and was being treated for Giardia (an infection of the intestine). He is now nine months old and has made remarkable progress since moving to his new home.

“He’s really lively, loves to jump and run and he’s very agile and has a habit of leap-frogging over other dogs,” said Kirk. “We take him for walks in the nearby field and he just runs and runs, he’s very energetic.”

Forest goes to a puppy training class once a week and is learning how to sit and stay. “We’re working on recall and he’s definitely getting there with that,” said Kirk. “We also have a couple of problem solving games we play with him where he has to find treats with his snout and paws, which he really likes. He’s also really into sticks and loves chasing them.”

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Photo: Kirk and Lydia with Forest.